DOKK / manpages / debian 12 / fatsort / fatsort.1.en
FATSORT(1) User Commands FATSORT(1)

fatsort - FAT sorting tool

fatsort [OPTIONS] DEVICE

FATSort sorts directory structures of FAT file systems (FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and exFAT). Many MP3 hardware players don't sort files automatically but play them in the order they were transferred to the device. FATSort can help here.

Sort options:

Use ASCIIbetical order for sorting
Ignore case of file names (default for most locales)
Ignore file name PFX
Natural order sorting

-o FLAG Sort order of files where FLAG is one of

d : directories first (default)
f : files first
a : files and directories are not differentiated
Sort in reverse order
Sort in random order
This options makes all other sort options obsolete.
Sort by last modification date and time

The following options can be specified multiple times to select which directories shall be sorted:

Sort directory DIR only
Sort directory DIR and all subdirectories
Don't sort directory DIR
Don't sort directory DIR and its subdirectories

The following options can be specified multiple times to select which directories shall be sorted using POSIX.2 extended regular expressions:

Only sort directories that match regular expression RE
Don't sort directories that match regular expression RE

However, options -e and -E may not be used simultaneously with options -d, -D, -x and -X.

Use the locale LOC instead of the locale from the environment variables

More options:

Print current order of files only
Print file system information only
Force sorting even if file system is mounted

-h, --help

Print some help

-v, --version

Print version information
Be quiet

DEVICE must be a FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 or exFAT file system.

WARNING: THE FILESYSTEM MUST BE CONSISTENT (NO FILESYSTEM ERRORS). PLEASE BACKUP YOUR DATA BEFORE USING FATSORT. RISK OF CORRUPT FILESYSTEM! FATSORT USER ASSUMES ALL RISK. FATSORT WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR DATA LOSS!

Sort /dev/sda.
Sort /dev/sdb1 with natural order.

Written by Boris Leidner.

Report bugs to <fatsort@formenos.de>.

Copyright © 2004-2021 Boris Leidner. License GPLv2: GNU GPL version 2 (see LICENSE.txt)
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

February 2023 fatsort 1.6.4